


The Only Reward for Good Work

by DesertVixen



Category: G.I. Joe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, brothers in arms, no reward for good work but more work, real Army compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 02:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13113618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: Falcon's work is never done





	The Only Reward for Good Work

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maeve_of_Winter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeve_of_Winter/gifts).



He’d been expecting death and danger, all the time. He’d expected secret missions and scenarios out of James Bond movies. He had survived all that the Slaughterhouse could dish out by thinking of how proud he was going to finally make his brother, by imagining the surprised look on Duke’s face when he saw his newest soldier.

Falcon had not been expecting to be made the executive officer. It was true that the job was commensurate with his rank and time in service, but he hated paperwork. General Hawk had been quite clear in his initial counseling that he expected his men to keep learning and growing.

“Beach Head will be able to assist you with a lot of it,” the Joes’ commanding officer had advised Falcon on the way out. 

Of course, he hadn’t said anything about Beach Head enjoying it. His position as the non-commissioned officer in charge of training was an important one, and he was very good at parts of it, such as running people until they dropped and training until someone was throwing up. He wasn’t quite as bad as Sergeant Slaughter, but they had obviously trained at the same school. He also hated paperwork and PowerPoint slides, and wasted no time in putting both of those responsibilities on Falcon’s plate. 

Never mind that Falcon hated them too. Never mind that rank was supposed to have its privileges. He knew he was the low man on the scale, and likely to stay that way until someone else survived the Slaughterhouse.

It wasn’t a complete disaster. The Joes controlled their own ranges, which helped simplify things, and requesting ammunition was simple enough, given the amount they expended in training and missions. 

Training requirements, however, were a never-ending nightmare. The team members all had such specialized skills and requirements to keep track of, not to mention professional development schools that people needed. It took him five attempts to make a spreadsheet that not only tracked all the requirements, but made sense.

*** 

Duke stopped by Falcon’s office one afternoon, and dropped into the guest chair. 

“Seems like you’re settling in pretty well as XO, little brother,” the Joes’ first sergeant said cheerfully.

“Thanks,” Falcon muttered as he peered at his computer screen. “It’s everything my recruiter promised it would be.”

“Not every job is glamorous,” Duke reminded him. “I have another duty to add to your plate.”

“Please tell me it involves explosives,” Falcon said with a pleading glance. 

“Unfortunately, no.” Duke stretched out his legs. “General Hawk saw the slides you did, and he thinks they’re really good. Better than anything everyone else has produced.”

On the one hand, Falcon enjoyed praise from the commander as much as the next person. On the other hand, he had the feeling he wasn’t going to enjoy this at all. “Why do I feel like I know where this is going?”

“General Hawk wants you to start doing the Command and Staff slides,” Duke said heartily.

Falcon hated being right sometimes. 

“It would really help me out,” Duke said. “I’m horrible at them as well.”

It wasn’t really a request, and they both knew it, but Falcon liked the idea that he might be taking some weight off Duke’s shoulders. 

“What else are brothers for?” Falcon said. “By the way, would you please remind the section leads that I need realistic estimates for ammo? I can get more, but Low-Light can’t shoot an entire week’s forecasted ammo in one day and expect to still have more.”

“Sure thing,”’ Duke said easily. “I’ll let you get back to your work. And I’ll send you the current slides and Hawk’s notes on the changes he would like to see.”

“’I can’t wait,” Falcon said after the door shut behind Duke. 

*** 

“That was the best Command and Staff meting we’ve had in a long time,” Duke said two weeks later, as he and Falcon sat down in Duke’s office. “Much smoother than usual.”

Falcon wanted to say that it helped when the Command and Staff slides weren’t in hieroglyphics, but there was no point. They were fixed now, and maintaining them wouldn’t be so bad. “Thanks.”

“General Hawk wants you to add another duty, since you’re handling everything else so well.”

Falcon somehow refrained from cringing. Maybe he needed to start screwing something up, since the only reward for a job well done here was apparently more work. “Oh?”

“How familiar are you with tracking readiness?”

Falcon just stared. “Surely readiness is always one hundred percent in this unit?”

Duke shrugged, drank his coffee. “We’re always ready to go and accomplish the mission, but maintaining readiness in the Army’s systems is sometimes a little more…challenging. Lifeline is having a hard time getting everyone to come in and get their medical stuff taken care of. A surprising number of people don’t like getting shots. We’re red on a lot of areas.”

“Can’t Hawk just order them to get it done?” 

“We have a lot of moving pieces, and somehow people keep forgetting to get it done. I’m sure you can wrangle people into the troop clinic. Lifeline and I would really appreciate it.”

Falcon sighed. “How bad is it?”

Duke handled Falcon an inch-thick pocket folder. “This is everyone.”

“Is anyone green in the system?”

“Lifeline is.” Duke grinned at him. “I’m sure you can figure out something.”

“Sure,” Falcon said. “I’ll figure something out.”

*** 

It took him two weeks, but Falcon was able to accomplish the mission. After a few false starts, such as sending each person an email detailing precisely what needed to be done and giving a reasonable suspense date, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

This solution also had the advantage of getting him out of his office. It was so simple, he wondered why no one else had tried it before. Since he was the XO, he knew when people would be coming back from their missions. If he happened to be waiting right there for them, and Lifeline happened to be in his office – even if it was midnight – it was easy enough to get even the slipperiest offender taken care of. Of course, it also meant people started trying to sneak away when they saw him, but he found he was really enjoying catching people out. It always helped when others got involved as well – the first people to have been caught were more than happy to rat out the people who kept trying to escape and evade. 

Duke congratulated him on a job well done. “You’re really a marvel at this organization stuff.”

Falcon said nothing. He was afraid if he did, it would just result in more paperwork.

“I have another mission for you,” the first sergeant said cheerfully. “Get your gear and be in the hangar in two hours.”

“Is it going to involve shooting something?” Falcon asked excitedly. 

“Yes,” Duke assured him. “COBRA has some scientists held hostage on a jungle island. I thought this mission would be right up your alley.”

“I’ll be there,” Falcon promised.

“And when you get back,” Duke continued, “I want to talk to you about our annual training requirements. It seems we’re not quite green on all of those.”

Falcon shrugged. His job as XO was never done, apparently.

But at least now he would get to go have some fun.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I hope you liked it!
> 
> I really liked your prompt about Falcon doing things to take the load off his big brother, and I figure Duke is not a paperwork sort of guy.
> 
> Command and Staff is basically a "state of the unit" meeting that happens on a regular basis. PowerPoint is often used to run Army meetings, and most people hate it (especially if they have to make it). Being "red" or "green" is a common summary of having requirements met. It always amuses me to think of the Joes doing "real Army" things, so this was a great prompt.


End file.
